There are various methods and products well known in the art which attempt to protect exterior grass and turf from desiccation, winter kill and the like by covering an area to be protected. Specifically, Canadian Patent No. 1,272,027 describes a woven insulated cover which is particularly well suited for use in preserving and protecting grassed areas from winter kill. The present invention improves upon the features of the '027 patent in the manner described below.
Also, in the case of gardens such as vegetable gardens, there is a need to maintain higher earth temperatures particularly for over the winter crops, germination of seeds and the like. At present, while there are certain types of air and water permeable products on the market, none of those products are very effective to enhance earth temperatures and promote early development of e.g. seeds or over-winter crops.
In the prior art, Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,007 issued Feb. 25, 1997 discloses a greenhouse of a stabilized plastic material. The material described for the greenhouse includes a central cover section of transparent or translucent flexible material at a peripheral or vent section of a open weave scrim material likewise of a transparent or translucent characteristic, which scrim material is provided with a lace coating. As disclosed in this reference, the scrim material can be made of various types of thermoplastic material with the strips or ribbons of the scrim being substantially transparent or translucent. It is a requirement as taught in this reference that the transparent or translucent characteristics are required for the greenhouse to function properly as a greenhouse since in the absence of the transparent or translucent characteristics, light would not pass through the scrim material to permit plants to grow. The characteristic of being translucent can be achieved by use of strips which are lightly coloured provided they do not become opaque, which again would render the material forming the green house inoperative due to the non-passage of light therethrough. Similarly, this reference teaches that the lace like reinforced material can have the same characteristics as the scrim material—such lace like material must therefore be non-opaque, as otherwise the lace like material would block the transmission of the light characteristics.
Japanese Patent 59-15923 discloses a sheet like material for farming usage which sheet is made up of several different sections of material having different characteristics (see FIG. 2). It appears that the sheet structure is formed of sections of warp and weft yarn with spaced apart rows of raised strips which do not have a warp/weft structure. This stated structure is disclosed to have characteristics of a light shading while providing air flow passage.
Neither of the above references disclose or relate to a structure which is capable of providing heat reflective properties on one surface of a sheet structure, while at the same time providing heat absorptive properties on an opposed surface where the structure is of a continuous nature. Such a feature would provide a highly advantageous sheet material which can be used for a ground cover suitable for growing vegetables or the like and one which would be simple to manufacture yet be capable of withstanding North American winters.